HTC’s holding a media event for select members of the tech press out in Seattle and we’ve learned a bit about how HTC operates, designs and works to grab our business. That’s not to say all the news is good news, at least if you’re a QWERTY keyboard fan.

“As a company the QWERTY keyboard we’re moving away from in general. “putting too much effort into that QWERTY phones would take away from our devices.”

HTC believes that too much extra time is spent on design for QWERTY equipped devices, time that is better spent focusing on improving the company’s on-screen keypad software.

On a separate note, HTC’s Eric Lin, Manager of Product Strategy explained that carriers are often very picky about choosing colors for an upcoming handset:

“How do you tell AT&T to sell a red phone, or Sprint to sell a red phone?” He added that you can “get in a place where there’s a lot of carrier loyalty to one color, or carrier hatred for another color,” so HTC avoided colors like “AT&T blue” and tried testing a number of different hues.

Lin went on to further explain that men own more smartphones than women and that white handsets have helped “open up women to smartphones.” HTC’s testing has also discovered that when it comes to colored handsets, there is often a perception that colored handsets are seen as “something for kids” and not suitable for a professional atmosphere.

As more and more black handsets are produced I’d like to think that we can get away from the black mold without a concern “professionalism” based on the color of our smartphone. Lin did say that HTC will continue to experiment with different colors and shades via cases. Personally, I’m all about the white smartphone, I’ve got a white iPhone 4S and I’d happily pick up a white Android device on T-Mobile. If the HTC One S releases in white, I’m all over it.

On a third and final note, NVIDIA’s General Manager of Mobile Business, Mike Rayfield was on hand to talk about NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 product. Rayfield says that NVIDIA is preparing for a third quarter launch of Tegra 3+ which will work with LTE enabled devices. Calling Tegra 3+ “high performance” and a “pretty significant bump” compared to today’s offerings, we’re excited to see how Tegra 3 handles as quad-core processors start to rollout. With or without LTE on T-Mobile’s network, customers can still benefit from the power of a Tegra 3 chip and we hope to see them launch in the third quarter.

So what do you think? Will you miss HTC QWERTY devices? Do you care about which color smartphone you purchase? Are you excited to see Tegra 3+ launch later this year?

About David Beren

David is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TmoNews.com. He considers himself a Jedi Knight, capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound and a connoisseur of fine cell phones. He has been involved in the wireless industry since 2003 and has been known to swap out phones far too many times in any given year. Should you wish to contact him, you can do so: david@tmonews.com.

I have always loved my qwerty keyboard phone. With that said, now and days we are using phones one handed while doing something else. Because of this I find myself using onscreen keyboards more and more. With swype as on option it is even easier. I also think people like the thin profile of all touch phones.

Deadeye37

I love the hardware keyboard on my G2. If I’m doing a quick note/text, I just use swype. However, if I’m doing some serious typing (or emulator gaming), a good physical keyboard is by far the best option. You get that tactile feedback so that you know exactly which key you’re pressing. I have larger fingers, so I have to be careful when I type on an on screen keyboard as I can “fat finger” the keys easily.

On the other hand, typing in landscape mode on a 4.6″ Galaxy SIII would probably make up for the lack of a physical keyboard :).

Now, if we could just get the innards of the SIII and stuff it in a G2, I would be a very happy guy!

i have those on screen keyboards its takes longer to type a simple message that i can just type on physically. if they stop im just going to stop buying their phones and look into something else.

Mixedemotion624

Anyone that want high end keyboard get captivate glide it galaxy s2 with physical keyboard.

Palus85

That sucks that there won’t be a G3 by HTC. The G2 was and still is my favorite phone. When uve had a phone wit a keyboard for the past 7 years its ( sidekick 3, mda, wing, g1, bbpearl, pro 2, g2 ) kinda hard to switch to a virtual keyboard especially when your first one is the HD2. I love the samsung nexus s I’m usin tho and the iPod touch I’m using to type this. Still wanted my htc g3 lol.

fixxmyhead

my first smartphone had a qwerty kb (samsung intercept. yea i was new to android back then). currently rocking the s2. sometimes i still miss that phone even though it sucks

David Rosen

i just wish we could have ONE last hurrah… a T-Mobile G3 that’s the current top of the line Android featuring ICS and dual/quad core, 1 gig ram, the best screen they could fit along with a keyboard. then i’d be ready to give up on my qwerty requirement. I really look at all Android versions before 4.0 as almost like a “beta” for android in general (constant freezes/lockups unless you root and even then its still a mess), but even with all those issues, the G1 and the G2 are the best phones I’ve ever owned. I’d love just one model that features the real Android, Android 4.0 and still has qwerty. man. sucks. guess i’m gonna have to learn to type on a touch screen.

PiCASSiMO

Amen, bro.

Vim

I’ve been mourning the slow death of the QWERTY for the past 2 years. HTC’s android keyboards never quite got the same love that their windows mobile keyboards did. It’s hard to know at this point if they could have been more successful because HTC never made a real top shelf QWERTY android phone. Even the G2 was a step down spec-wise from the MyTouch 4G, and what’s the point of having a keyboard without a separate number row? I liked the tilting 5 row keyboard on the Touch Pro 2 a lot more than the 4 row keyboard on the G2 with its silly hinge.

Edy6401

Did you ever consider the Mytouch 4G Slide?

None

…a year ago

Vim

The MyTouch 4G Slide is the best qwerty android phone HTC has ever produced, but I’d have been more impressed had they released the MyTouch 4G Slide at the same time as the MyTouch 4G, not nearly a year later, only a month or two before the Amaze 4G and the Galaxy S2. And it still only had a 4 row keyboard. Now if they had made a version of the Amaze with a 5 row keyboard I’d have bought that in a heartbeat…

Hobbiteer

Yep I did. However T-Mobile killed it with their massive 1″ of “My Touch” branding to reduce the screen size. Thanks for that t-mo. On the other hand, I really liked the Nokia E7’s keyboard. But Symbian just sucked.

HTC needs to take a look at the Sidekick’s keyboards. Til’ this very day, the Sidekick had the BEST qwerty keyboard ever made. Just enough spacing. Just enough tactile feedback. 5-row, offset…perfection.

rds

I swear all I’ve ever owned are sidekicks, I’m using the sidekick 4g right now and I’m just waiting for the next one to come out. I want somethingg high end this time with a qwerty but no company is making any!

sino8r

WOW! HTC just killed a huge fan base in one swift swoop! Now I don’t have to wait on the G3 that isn’t coming this fall. I can just get the SGSIII much sooner. Stupid f*cking move, HTC! Stupid f*cking move! Right on par with the non removable batteries and storage… Now that Samsung has promised better build quality on housings/shells, our decisions on next should be a no brainer.

TMOSince2003

Yes, I want a QWERTY phone. Was hoping a new one would be announced to replace the 4g Slide in the linup. Guess I will start haunting eBay. Drat it all, there was a nice 4GS on Craigslist yesterday and I let it go, just a little too much still. Gone today of course.

Xangelx915

I could care less about the tegra processors…almost All the devices I have tested with a tegra processor has had some sort of lag issue..ill stick with qualcomms snapdragon processors..

Dez

i owned a G1 and now own a G2, the awake button stopped working have to slide it open for it to turn on, and wait till it automatically goes to sleep, also some of the letters have fallen off, was looking forward to a G3 since the i gave away my G2X cause it sucked, guess ill have to get the One S now

Aron027

You can download a lock widget app instead of waiting RG or it to go to sleep.

The G2 is still the best keyboard qwerty smartphone in T-mobile… it’s nearly been out for two years, come on htc make another (with pretty colors) gdamnit!

Itsjords

There has not been a single high end device lately with a qwerty keyboard, there is a still a huge qwerty target audience that are waiting for the right phone to come along!

The only thing close lately was the droid 4 but they missed the mark with the screen and buiild quality.

Samsung finally needs to release something high-end with a qwerty keyboard and huge screen as I’m no longer relying on htc!

mikeybot

I hate screen only keyboards. I type so much faster with a physical keyboard.

TMoFan

That’s too bad, I think there is a market for a good quality high end qwerty smartphones.

My G2 is the best phone I’ve owned hands down. I absolutely love it. It does everything I need it to and it’s still pretty zippy even though it’s old. I’ve been using swift key since Google Play offered it for 49¢ a while ago. Now I get the best of both worlds: predictive text with the physical keyboard.

Snoopyalien24

I love my G2 so much. It is hands down the best Android phone of its time, even better than some of the newer ones.
They should improve the speed of tracking your finger on the screen. No company has been able to implement this on a screen, except Microsoft with a prototype. Have a sense of real touch on a screen, rather than dragging your finger and an icon trailing your swipe instead of actually being dragged by your finger.

HTC Blewit

So what they’re saying is that the MT4G Slide is the last HTC phone I ever bought? That’s too bad that HTC is so limited that they cannot work on two types of phone at the same time.

Might as well give up on it since they haven’t been able to match Samsung’s keyboard after so many tries. Or even match their own TouchPro again. Seems like they lost their touch :) after an early success.

Hopefully Samsung will become more hacker friendly, like HTC is right now, otherwise I’ll have to look into Motorola… yikes!

mel

one reason why ppl like android is that you have many types of phones to choose from..i had a g1 & and im currently using the g2..i was hoping htc would drop a high end qwerty phone cause the m4tg slide wasn’t cutting it for me..i guess that not happening..i don’t understand how hard it is to make a qwerty phone..when you already have qwerty designs that work..just take those & improve on it..they didnt have a problem taking the nexus one designed and making it over & over again

Too bad. I guess I won’t be buying anymore HTC phones. Onscreen keyboards are a nuisance.

Jody Smith

I have had 2 keyboard android on t-mobile and do prefer the keyboard, but not the bulky design. I got to play with a One S fro behind a store counter last night and was impressed, but not with the screen. Any idea when / if the One X will hit tmobile?

JamesJ13

Looks like I am going to learn how to type a touch screen keyboard.
I own a G2, best phone Ive ever had. I dont use the touch screen kb because..welll..it sucks.
I personally feel like the iPhones keyboard is by the best touch screen kb available today.
I own an itouch, I am really quick with that keyboard…but with my G2 touchsceen kb (considering the fact that it has a larger screen)..its terrible.
It is either nexus or iphone for me, im going to try my friends galaxy nexus kb..if that not impressive, then ill have to go with iphone with its possible release to TMO if it comes.

I see a lot of G2 owners here, have you guys recorded a video..transferred it to your computer and have the volume not working?
People tell me I should test something called the VRC or VCR (forgot the name) on my computer, but what is that?
If someone can help me out, that would be great, I have vids I would love to send to my family…but the volume of the video doesnt work.

Anon

VLC Media Player, Its free.

JamesJ13

what is that and where can I get it?

tommy

google it. Are you talking about the GS2? so the videos it makes need to be converted to play in windows media player? I bet there’s an app for that no? either on windows or the phone. use google to find them make a query.

Anon

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ It plays nearly every video codec you can think of, i have a G2 and i use it for all of my 3gp videos

JamesJ13

I have a PC, I am not sure why it doesnt work with PC windows media player…I thought it would be some settings I would have to go through.

Derek

I have a G2 with a Zagg screen…use swype and love it. I bought the G2 for the keyboard and find I never use it. Swype does force close once in awhile, but it does well.

JBLmobileG1

When I upgraded from my G1 to the Nexus One I remembered how I missed a physical keyboard. Then when I upgraded to the G2 I was the same way in that I found out that I seldom even used the physical keyboard because I found it quicker and more convenient just to use the touch screen. While it does take time converting over there are plenty of keyboard apps to help. For me I use Swiftkey X which does a pretty good job. One thing I don’t think I will miss about a phone with a physical keyboard is having it feel like it may break on me for opening or closing it too fast. Not to mention finding a good case for one although Otterbox did a good job with the G2 case.

tommy

I hated screen keyboards until I saw that the LG Optimus T worked pretty well with it. just takes some adapting. sad but true!

I always laughed at the G2 for some reason, but the only 2 ppl I knew who had them seem to like it. Played with the Sidekick 4G at the store. Phone sucks of course but the keyboard had me considering coppin one as a backup phone. But SK4G is too much of a fail for me, on top of that – its made by Samsuck! I still think the DROID 3 was the best keyboard I toyed around with, slightly better than the SK keyboard but thats debatable.

If you don’t care about Netflix or hardcore gaming on ur phone and only more of the text/email and occasional web browsing type – you may want to go back to BlackBerry. They still have the best portrait keyboards ever made. I’m fine with touchscreen tho.

Teks

A “full” keyboard is… was a make or break for me. Sad times these are, taught me Yoda did.

you can plug in any usb keyboard you want to, into the phone, with ICS.

JamesJ13

thanks!

trife

G2 owner here–have been using it since launch date. This is EASILY the best phone I’ve ever had. So good that nothing T-Mobile has released since has piqued my interest. It does everything I need it to do and does it efficiently. So for me to see HTC move away from QWERTYs is kinda sad.

After using numerous Blackberry devices for years, the G2 was the only phone that piqued my interest since I required a QWERTY keyboard. Its been by far the best phone I’ve owned and nothing since its release has interested me. Typing on a touch screen is cumbersome and time consuming due to the size of my hands and fingers along with the volume of messages that I send. I was committed to purchasing an HTC G3 upon its release, but seems I’ll have to make other arrangements. While I’m a fan of the iPad, the iPhone has little interest to me as a primary device. I’ve quickly become a fan of the Android platform and HTC devices, so the fact that I know I’ll not be able to upgrade to a phone comparable to the G2 phone totally sucks since I absolutely love it.

Note: with android upgrade 4.0 ICS, you can plug in a usb keyboard to your phone so any phone can have any keyboard you like. So issue is moot. we have little tiny usb keyboards here at work they’re about 5 inches across..

AgDon

G2 owner also looking for a new G3 with qwerty from HTC. If they are are not going to make anymore qwertys then I’m pissed. The G2 is the best phone I’ve had, was looking or a newer and bigger G3 from HTC the other qwertys from TMO are bad.

Someone

No qwerty? No sale. I’ll hang on to my G2 (and my spare) with CyanogenMod until they both die. If I’m stuck with an on-screen keyboard, I’ll just find another carrier and get an iPhone. And I never thought I’d say that…

DetroitTechnoFan

That makes no sense… switching to an iphone because you can’t get something with a QWERTY keyboard? The iphone keyboard is awful!

Jeffreygreen1315

I actually got the G2 because of the qwerty board only to findout that I really like to Swype. I bet I haven’t used the board in over 9 months!

Cyclotourist

I upgraded to the G2 the day they were availale, I never use the QWERTY keyboard. My next phone won’t have one.

Icon127

I will stick with my G2 phone because I perfer the keyboard. It sucks that HTC will not be making anymore physical keybord. Screen keyboards is not that acurate to me.

Joe

Lack of a physical keyboard is a deal-breaker for me, so there it is . . .

HTC is making a mistake

Another G2 owner. I love the physical keyboard and can’t even remember the last time I used the on screen keyboard. So to HTC move away from the keyboard is very sad. its going to take a lot of features to get me to want to buy a smart phone without a qwerty.

I think HTC is making a huge mistake. I’ve been up for a ne phone for a while and nothing T-mobile has brought out interested me enough to put down my G2. The one-s is a joke, no expandable memory, no removable battery…might as wll run iOs.

Blakeflakes

its obvious that HTC is run by morons. This Lin guy is focused on the color of a phone rather than putting in a keyboard??? they make jelly skins for every phone in almost every color for 10 bucks! fucking stupid man. As a proud G2 owner i will not be replacing this phone untill it completely falls apart in my hands. HTC you are going in the wrong direction with your products. Make us a high end handset with all of the bells and whistles, a worthy G2 successor. Please stop being lazy and engineer a 5 row keyboard that works.

Autumn Fox

Don’t stop doing the physical keyboards. At least keep one model with one. I love your phones, but I absolutely hate on screen keyboards. I never use them. Had the G1 and now the G2. The G2 has been very reliable.

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